Visitor, User, and Inventory Figures for 2020

The museums of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation had 1,163,800 visits in 2020. The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin registered 305,486 visits to the library and 28,000 registered users.

The institutions of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, SPK) regularly collect figures on attendance and users. The figures for the years up to 2016 are available in the documentation for the annual press conference. Since 2016, they have been published in the Foundation’s annual report.

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Musikinstrumenten-Museum

The museums of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin) and Musikinstrumenten-Museum (Museum of Musical Instruments) had around 1,163,800 visits in 2020 (2019: 4,288,000 visits, 2018: 3,793,000 visits, 2017: 3,525,000 visits). Due to the pandemic, the facilities were only open to a limited extent in 2020. Of the entire number, 739,380 visits in 2020 (2019: 3,095 Mio., 2018: 2,487 Mio., 2017: 2,323 Mio.) were to Museum Island.

The Institut für Museumsforschung (Institute for Museum Research) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin researches the attendance numbers and visitor composition of museums and exhibition spaces all over Germany. The results are available regularly at the end of the following year in Statistische Gesamterhebung an den Museen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. They have been published by the institute in cooperation with Deutscher Museumsbund, the German lobby for museums, since 1981.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

The number of library visits in 2020 under corona conditions was 305,486 (2019: 959,472). The number of borrowers – registered visitors and institutions – was around 28,000, just as in the previous year. The library loaned about 800,000 physical units.

The inventory of books, bound newspapers, and periodicals rose to 12 millions. The library’s collection also includes around 1,9 million other printed materials (maps, musical scores, etc.), 17,5 million other materials (postcards, microfiche, etc.), around 452,000 manuscripts and autographs, and just under 14,500 regularly subscribed periodicals. It also contains around 30,000 electronic periodicals and 1 million digital units.

Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut

In 2020, the library of the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (Ibero-American Institute) had 3,708 registered users. The institute hosted 48 guest researchers, some of whom were in the IAI scholarship and fellowship program. Institute events registered around 3,057 attendees (digital and present).

The inventory of printed materiel grew in 2020 to 1,119,243 books. The extensive special collections consist of around 315 legacies, 40,900 recorded media, a film collection of more then 6,000 videos and DVDs, around 75,000 maps, over 120,000 photographs, slides and postcards, 5,000 placards and posters, 1,600 graphic items, 350,000 newspaper clippings and 19 archives of institutions like working committees, research facilities, schools, foundations, clubs, and publishers.

Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz

In 2020, 33,966 archive records were made available for use (previous year: 54,966) and 3,839 inquiries were answered in writing. Around 750 users came to the archive in person and 2,749 days of use were recorded.

Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung

The Musikinstrumenten-Museum of the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung (State Institute for Music Research) had around 16,000 visits in 2020 (2019: around 53,000, 2018: around 54,000, 2017: around 59,000). This number is included in the total attendance number for SPK museums. The Bibliographie des Musikschrifttums (Bibliography of Music Literature, BMS online) was accessed 864,272 times (2019: 961.500, 2018: 573.000, 2017: 531.000). It currently contains 432,786 data records (2018: 397.000, 2017: 384,000).

The collections of the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung comprise 3,500 musical instruments, 38,354 books and sheet music items, 1,624 periodicals, 820 music manuscripts, 55 legacies and collections, and 12,538 sound recordings.